Resolution: Saved by a Single-Edged Razor Blade

Maybe I’m just sensitive, but a scratchy label is enough to keep me from enjoying a garment.  Even when I occasionally buy a prestige brand, the ego stroke isn’t enough to overcome the annoyance of that darned label. But I’ve ruined a few garments by cutting the fabric instead of the thread when removing a label.  Then a professional seamstress showed me this trick.

Use a sharp single-edge razor blade.  I know, it sounds scary.  I argued with her until I tried it.  It works for nearly every situation that involves removing stitches, but here’s how to use it for labels:

• Cut between the face of the label and the little turned-under bit.  The middle area is easiest place to start, since both ends are likely to be back-stitched.  Use the tip of the blade, keeping as flat against the fabric as possible.
• When that middle area is un-done, you can pull the layers (tag and garment) apart and carefully cut each remaining stitch.  Work the blade against the label, not the garment and go one stitch at a time.
• AAAHHHH.  Comfy at last!

Labels aren’t the only things you can remove with this method.  I’d pulled this casual dress out of my off-season closet for a quick holiday get-away to the Florida panhandle.  You may have seen it before,  because I already talked  (in my Craftsy class) about removing the bottom two pockets to eliminate the hip-line horizontal they created.  When I wore it on the trip,  I didn’t like the top pockets either.  I wanted every bit of emphasis to go to the center front vertical of the decorative zipper and the newly-tapered skirt.  Razor blade to the rescue – what do you think of the results?

What unflattering details in your own wardrobe could you eliminate this way?